iWeb Self Select ISA

A question about : iWeb Self Select ISA

i am doing some research as to which self select ISA to open for
- an irregular trader;
- low (or better, NIL) admin fees/charges;
- no inactivity charge;
- no requirement for regular investment;
- Ј10 less commission per trade;
- dividend reinvestment;
- reasonable transfer out charge;
- inclusive research facility - this is a bonus ;
- and maybe more...

i am in the process of checking out Sippdeal, Selftrade, TD Direct, SVS, Saga, etc. iWeb has come up top of the list at the moment.

however, i am unable to get up-to-date reviews or user experience with iweb on the internet . this means i have googled this. and i have searched and read every post that mentioned 'iweb [share dealing]' between 2010 and today on this website.

could you share your experience with iweb if you have had dealings with them, please?

thanks.

Best answers:

• ok, my own experience with them.
  i rang iWeb on a 0870 number early this evening to learn more about the product. the gentleman i spoke to was very patient and answered all of my questions. i was impressed and emailed their customer service afterwards, giving compliments to the staff.
  however, i am not sure why they lack up-to-date online reviews of the service. thus, i decided to start this new thread.
• I've signed up recently without any difficulty or fuss whatsoever but haven't actually started using the service yet.. still waiting for the big stock market crash to pile in on some ETF index trackers.
  During the initial sign up process there was some confusion though when I phoned to verify the application and was told my IWeb account had been closed in 2011, when I had only just signed for the first time a few days prior.
  It turns out, as mentioned above, they had my old iii account details on their system from when iii were still using the Halifax dealing platform. I'm not sure what to make of that and did ask why they'd still got that information, but regardless the account was closed so nothing unpleasant can result.
  Their dealing web portal is, unsurprisingly, very similar to the old iii one. Everything is intuitive and easy to manage.
  I'm thinking of purchasing a chunk of Aviva shares if there's a price drop soon, as an income generator and also just to start the account rolling.
• thanks, pqrdef - i tried to search for self select isa reviews for both Halifax and Motley Fool. There are only a few up-to-date reviews around. And they vary in terms of their service quality. wonder whether it's due to my poor googling skill.
  and thanks JohnRo for your message.
  i read someone indicating Halifax did not have facility for real time pricing, and there were delays in selling. has anyone with Halifax or iweb or Motley Fool experience delays in making sales recently?
  as for the real time pricing issue, maybe i should get in touch with iweb again.
• Transferred to Iweb from III. Transfer was very smooth. I trade 2 -3 times a month, all deals have been fine so far and executed smoothly. Good & cheap service so far. Did compare with other low cost brokers and I chose iweb. no regrets as yet. does what it says.
• mark13, does iweb provide real time pricing?
  and thanks for your post, it's encouraging.
• Obviously you get the real-time offer or bid price if you ask for a buying or selling quote. On other screens you get a 15-minute lag.
• I found the Halifax platform unreliable in times of hectic market activity i.e. when you most want to use it, and have given up with them. I use TD Waterhouse and they have been fine. You could also try x-o which does use the halifax platform if you aren;'t too bothered about system availability; they only charge Ј5.95 a trade.
• thanks pqrdef for clarifying the matter.
  EdGasket, thanks for your post. you weren't the only one mentioning Halifax's unreliability during hectic times. and that can be worrying.
  i will contact XO and see what they say.
• i rang SVS early today on the matter of dividend reinvestment. it doesn't do automatic dividend reinvestment. but once you've had over Ј50 dividend (not sure if Ј50 exact is included) in balance, you can invest the money. does anyone know if the same applies to those providers who claim not to have dividend reinvestment facility?
  thanks
• Yes it is normal for dividends to be held in cash and for you to be able to use them to buy additional shares in the same share or different ones. You will have to pay the normal trading charges though so if you only have Ј50 it might be worth waiting until you have collected a bit more otherwise even a Ј5 trading charge would mean a -10% hit.
• thanks Reaper for your input.
  just spoke to x-o.co.uk. they charge annual fee of either Ј15/50 + VAT! furthermore, it would cost between Ј25 and Ј100 for buying foreign stocks, depending on the value of investment.
  i am not sure when it started charging the annual fee because information i got from their website (a few days ago) seemed to say 'no' to admin/annual charge.
• sorry for any confusion due to my last post - rang x-o again because its website clearly stated they didn't charge annual fees.
  the first person at x-o gave me mixed info without clarifications. e.g. she said there was an annual fee of Ј50 + VAT when i asked. next, i was asking about cash withdrawal when she clarified there was no charge for online dealing only account but otherwise for the other account. at this point, i informed her i was interested in the online dealings only. we carried on and still she didn't clarify any subsequent charges she mentioned, e.g. transfer out = Ј10 + VAT per holding! she started to ask me to refer to the website for my last questions.
  the second one was much better. here's what i learnt for online dealings only account:
  - annual fees = none
  - foreign stock holding = unavailable
  - cash withdrawal charge = none
  - account closure = Ј50 + VAT
  - transfer out = Ј15 + VAT per holding
  - transfer out + closing account = Ј50 + VAT plus Ј15 + VAT per holding
• ok, there are 2 obvious contenders on my list - SVS and iWeb.
  considerations:
  - dealing charge - SVS = Ј0.75 more expensive per dealing but it's not an issue for an infrequent trader.
  - transfer out - SVS = Ј10 cheaper per holding.
  - service - both have been satisfactory at this stage.
  - performance during hectic market times - don't remember i encountered any negative opinion for SVS; iWeb's has been an issue for some people.
  - service towards an account holder - ?!?!?!?!?
  can you share your experience with either, please?
  thanks.
• Can anybody share any experience of what you are able to include in the regular investing Ј2 trades at iWeb?
  I'm specifically looking to include some individual shares in my portfolio but need the charges to be reasonable. Most other regular investing offers seem to restrict to FTSE 350 only, is that also the case here (can't find the answer on the website or google).
  Thanks.
• I have been using iweb for a couple of years now and have only one complaint. It only allows you to keep a page open for 10 minutes before having to log in again. I find this annoying as I like to keep the page open in the background as I do research. When doing any trade (charge Ј5) it quotes the best price and gives you 15seconds to either confirm or cancel. Otherwise it gives you the mid-price delayed 15 mins. In an ISA you can set up or cancel a trade plan without any extra charge. In a normal account it costs Ј2 which is deducted from the trade fee if it triggers. All the research pages are from Halifax.
• I am surprised you re-opened a thread which has been 'dead' for 2 years.
  But, in case there are others considering whether or not to open an iweb account, it is one of my favourites. I currently have brokerage accounts with td direct, x-o, youinvest & iweb. I have in the past also had accounts with hargreaves lansdowne (closed due to high fees) and interactive investor (closed during their fees fiasco).
  I'm reasonably happy with all four of the brokers I currently use. Their fees are reasonable and the interfaces are good. But I don't think any of these would allow you to keep a page open and be inactive for more than 10 mins. I think I'd be wary of the security of any site that didn't log you out for inactivity!
  The two brokers I'd particularly recommend are TD direct - as they will allow you to buy etfs and equities that other brokers won't - and also iweb on account that they allow me to have both shares and funds in the same account & they don't charge any percentage fees on the funds, just a one-off purchase fee which is very reasonable. I find that none of the brokers display active pricing - other than for the 15 second period when you set up a trade. But you can just set up a 'dummy' trade if you want to see the price and refresh when your 15 seconds are up. It never seems to be an issue for me.
• On the iWeb site it says it is operated by Halifax Sharedealing and yet Halifax Sharedealing charges Ј12.50 per trade plus an annual fee for an ISA whereas iWeb charge Ј5 per trade and no annual fee. How can there be such a discepancy for the same service from the same provider?